NCAA Men's Sectional Semifinal (March 12)

Wisconsin-Stevens Point 100, at Puget Sound 79

Tacoma, Wash. -- Wisconsin-Stevens Point advanced to the Sectional Final tonight on the heels of a 100-79 victory over the University of Puget Sound Loggers.  Nick Bennett led all scorers with 37 points.  The Pointers (26-5) will face in-state rival Lawrence University tomorrow night for the right to advance to the Division III Final Four.

Stevens Point jumped all over Puget Sound, shooting 70% (21-30) in the first-half, while utilizing a stymieing defense to force the Loggers into 12 first-half turnovers.  Stevens Point took a 50-30 lead into the half, with Jon Krull leading all scorers at the break with 15-points on 6-8 shooting.

The Loggers had difficulty with the Pointers’ lengthy zone when trying to penetrate, and struggled to find their shooting touch from three-point land, hitting on just 4 of 13 three point field goals in the half.

Puget Sound made a run in-front of the 1809 mostly Logger fans, cutting the lead to seven on two occasions.  Each time the Pointers had an answer, often times in the form of a Bennett basket.  Bennett shot 13-17 on the night, making four of six three-pointers and seven of 8 free throws.  Twenty-six of Bennets' points came in the second-half.  Jason Kalsow (19) and Krull joined Bennett in double-figures.

Puget Sound was led offensively by freshmen Jeremy Cross and Curtiss Medved.   Medved tried to bring the Loggers back with his three-point shooting, hitting on five of ten second-half attempts.  Medved ended the night with 23-points to lead the Loggers.  Cross had 18 points on 8-14 shooting.  Chase Curtiss was the games’ leading rebounder with five.  Curtiss added 14 points on the night.

Puget Sound ends their season at 24-3, tying a program mark for winning percentage.

UW-Stevens Point and Lawrence University will match-up Saturday night in Memorial for the right to go on to Salem, Virginia.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm PST.